Sabahan is three times world beater
Published on: Mon, Jun 02, 2025
By: GL Oh Text Size: Angie poses with her gold medal. Kota Kinabalu: It was a hat-trick of wins for Angie Yan Jia Chi as the Sabahan lass successfully defended her U23 World title in the wai kru event at the 2025 World Muaythai Championships held in Antalya, Turkey on Saturday. In the final, she proved her superiority with technical precision as she scored 9.60 points to edge her Filipina opponent Rhichein Yosorez by a margin of 0.1 points to take the title for the third time in a row. Last year, she won her second U23 title at the IFMA Senior World Championship held in Greece preceded by her maiden victory in Bangkok, Thailand a year earlier. She had previously also won two titles at the IFMA World Cup in Turkey and the World Combat Games in Riyadh in 2023. Her mother Sally Kuan, who has always been very supportive in her training, was present to accompany Angie at the championship to see her lifting the crown. She said her daughter's success in winning a gold medal for Malaysia proved the dedication and high spirit of the country's young athletes in the traditional art of Muaythai on the world stage. She also expressed her gratitude to Sabah Muaythai Association president Haji Nazri Abd Razak and the president of the Malaysian Muaythai Association Dato' Shahnaz Azmi for their support and joint efforts to promote the sport in the country. Meanwhile, Nazri congratulated Angie for the success and said her achievement proved that their developing programme is bearing fruit and hoped it will motivate more youth in the state to follow in her footsteps. 'Our programme has reached phase three in five years and with five world titles produced, we are certain many youth in Sabah will like to join us as pelapis (back-up) to follow the success story,' he said. He also made assurance that the discipline will be held in every competition organised by the State body and it is set to make its debut in this year's Sabah Games in Tawau. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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